LOGINMorning sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, but Chloe barely noticed it.She sat curled up on the living room sofa, a blanket wrapped around her swollen legs while one hand rested absentmindedly over her belly.The twins kicked gently beneath her palm.Normally, their movements made her smile.Today... They only reminded her of how much her body had changed.Her phone vibrated against the cushion. Within seconds, the notifications became endless.Melissa: Chloe... don't look online.Another message arrived.Emma: Someone reposted the hospital pictures.Her stomach tightened. Slowly, she unlocked the phone. The article Damian had switched off the night before hadn't disappeared.It had exploded from Entertainment blogs to Celebrity pages Everyone seemed to have an opinion about the billionaire's pregnant wife.A television presenter laughed while replaying the video of Damian helping her climb out of the SUV."She can barely walk anymore.""Pregna
Chloe stood in front of the full-length mirror in the penthouse bathroom, hands resting on the heavy curve of her belly. She and Damian had been discharged from the hospital only a few hours earlier under strict medical orders. The contractions had eased for now, but the doctors had made one thing painfully clear—she was to remain on complete bed rest inside the penthouse. A private obstetric team would monitor her daily, and at the first sign of regular contractions or distress from either twin, Damian was to bring her straight back to the hospital. The penthouse no longer felt like home. Prescription bottles sat neatly on the bathroom counter. A blood pressure monitor rested beside the sink. Emergency numbers were taped to the refrigerator downstairs, and the guest room had been converted into a temporary medical room. Even here, she couldn't escape the reminder that every day of this pregnancy was a battle. The fluorescent light overhead made every new stretch mark, every swoll
Marcus had just gone public in a press conference. The headline flashed across the screen: *Marcus King Takes Full Control of King Enterprises — Files for Emergency Custody of Damian’s Unborn Twins, Citing Instability and Safety Concerns.* The photo showed Marcus standing at a podium, smiling like he had already won. The company was gone. And now he was coming straight for the twins in open court. Damian tightened his hold on Chloe as the reality crashed over them both. The war had just gone fully public, and Marcus was no longer hiding in the shadows. Chloe stared at her phone screen, the news alert glowing harshly in the dim hospital room. Marcus’s press conference played on loop in the video embedded at the top of the article. He stood at a podium, smiling like a man who had already won, announcing his full control of King Enterprises and the emergency custody filing for “the King heirs” due to Damian’s “instability and dangerous associations.” “They won’t stop until they des
Chloe let the phone drop back onto the table. “She’s still doing it. Even now. While I’m hooked up to machines trying to keep them inside me, she’s out there telling the world she’s the rightful mother and I’m just the broken incubator. Demanding access like she has any right.” Damian picked up the phone, scanned the article, and set it face down with more force than necessary. “She’s desperate. The court sees through it. We have the tampering evidence. The payments. All of it. This is noise. You focus on you and them. Nothing else.” Chloe shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position against the pillows. The monitors picked up the twins’ heartbeats again, steady for now. She let out a shaky breath and looked back at Damian. “If they come early… what names do we even use? We talked about it but never decided. I keep thinking about that. Like if I pick them now, it makes this real in a way I can hold onto.” He pulled his chair even closer, elbow resting on the bed
Damian gripped the steering wheel with one hand while the other stayed locked around Chloe’s fingers in the back seat of the armored SUV. She winced beside him, breath hissing through clenched teeth as another wave of pain hit. The safehouse had lasted less than two hours before the contractions returned, sharper this time, pulling her body forward despite the seatbelt.“Stay with me,” he repeated, voice low and steady even as fear clawed up his throat. “Breathe through it. Just like before. In slow. Out slower. I’ve got you.”Chloe nodded tightly, free hand pressed hard against the side of her belly. Sweat beaded on her forehead. “It’s stronger now. Damian… they feel lower. Like they’re really trying to come.”The driver took a sharp turn toward the private medical wing, tires squealing against the pavement. Damian kept his eyes on her face, thumb stroking the back of her hand in the same rhythm he’d used through every scare before. “You’re doing everything right. The twins are fight
“Deal,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. They stood together slowly. Damian kept one arm around her as they moved toward the bedroom to pack. Chloe opened the nursery door one last time, needing to see it before they left. She ran her hand along the wall near the crib, steadying herself, when her fingers brushed something small and hard embedded in the drywall. She froze. “Damian…” He stepped beside her. She pried at the spot with her nails until a small black device came loose, a hidden listening bug, wires still connected, blinking faintly. Someone had been listening. In the nursery. To every word they had spoken about the future, about names, about their hopes. Chloe stared at the device in her palm, fresh horror washing over her as the realization hit. They had never been safe here. Not even for a moment.Damian crushed the listening device in his fist, plastic cracking sharply between his fingers as wires dug into his palm. Blood welled up from a small cut but
Damian sat alone in his penthouse office, the city lights stretching beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows like a sea of glittering stars. Usually, the view calmed him. Tonight, it did nothing. His jaw remained locked as he clicked through the financial reports his private investigator had forwar
No answer at first. Then the lock turned and she stood there, phone in hand with a pale face. “Another call from the shop. Ingredients missing, Customers complaining. This is your world biting me again, isn’t it?” “I’m fixing it,” he said. “My people are on the suppliers. The clinic. All of i
He glanced at the screen and answered immediately. “Doctor. What’s wrong?”Chloe watched his face tighten as he listened. He put it on speaker.“Ms. Bennett needs to come in right away,” the doctor said. “Twin B’s readings have declined sharply. We’re seeing signs that require immediate evaluation.
Get out,” Damian snarled, stepping closer to Vanessa in the middle of the penthouse living room. “We’re done. You walked away in front of the cameras. Don’t come back here claiming it’s my kid.” Vanessa tossed her hair, hand resting on her flat stomach like that proved anything. “You sure about t







